U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,366 issued Jun. 5, 1990 to V. G. Boucher et al discloses an electrical transmission control mechanism that includes a control lever for rotating a turret assembly to command directional modes of the transmission and a twist grip assembly at the distal end of the control lever to control speed modes of the transmission. The control mechanism additionally includes electrical rotary contacting type switching devices that are responsive to movement of the turret and twist grip assemblies.
Unfortunately contacting electrical switches are subject to wear, necessitating switch replacement or repair. Thus the long term reliability of such a transmission control mechanism is low, which leads to high system costs. Moreover when the control mechanism is not operating properly, the machine cannot be used. This "down-time" imposes unacceptable burdens to the machine owner.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.